Locomotive smoke box



Jan. 17, 1928. 1,656,380

w. LENTZ LOCOMOTIVE SMOKE BOX Filed April 15. 1927 3 INVENTOR BY fin ihasfor its object the Patented Jan. 17, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

mm L'LEN'I'Z, or 'IUOKAHOB, lmw YORK.

noconorzvn smoxn 301:.

Application filed April 1:, 1927. Serial No. 188,876.

My invention relates to locomotives, and

rovlsion of an mproved type of smo e-box construct on adapted toaccommodate the piping form ng a part of one or more of the locomotiveauxiliaries.

One of'thelocations frequently used for locomotive feed water heaters isabove the forward portion of the locomotive smokebox, ahead of thestack, and with a feed water heater so located it is necessaryto makenumerous steam and water connections between the lower portions of thelocomotive and the heater.

The location and arrangement of the necessary connecting pipes is amatter of considerable difliculty, as the permissible clearances in'modern locomotives are so small that there is frequently insufficientroom for the larger pipes to be brought up to the heater outsidethelocomotive boiler, and such pi ing even though it can be arranged int is manner forms a serious ob; struction to the view of the locomotiveen 'neer.

order to remedy this undesirable condition, it has been proposed toindent the sides of the smoke-box walls to form a depressed channel forthe reception of such piping, and the present invention 1s m the natureof an im rovement on this construction, by means 0 which the necessarypiping may be carried through the interior of the smoke-box.

In modern locomotive boilers, the diameter of the boiler shell and thatof the smoke-box is very lar e, and my invention further contemplates te provis1on of a structure WhlCh will provide a desirable stiffening ofthe sheets forming the smoke-box walls.

I have illustrated my invent1on in the accompanying drawings in whichFig. 1 is an elevation of the forward portion of the locomotive; Fig. 2is a transverse elevation partly in section of the locomotive; and Fig.3 is a fra entar section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 an showing thedetailed construction. U

Referring now to Fig. 1, 1 indicates the sheet forming the walls of thesmoke-box in which is located the stack 2 and which is provided with aflattened top 3, upon which is mounted the feed water heater 4. Forillustrative purposes I have shown the smoke-box walls formed by asingle integral sheet, but obviously such sheet may be built well-knownup of a number of arcuate sections, and as hereinafter used in theclaims the term sheet is to be-understood as including all suchequivalent forms of construction. The heater illustrated is of a knowntypereceiving exhaust steam from the engine valve chests 5 through theexhaust steam supply ipes 6 and dischargin rom through the con ensateline 7. Boiler feed water is supplied from the usual feed pump 8 throughconduit 9 to the heater, rom which it passes through conduit 10 andcheck valve 11 to the locomotive boiler.

The location of the heater and the pipin to and away from it is inaccordance wit practice, but, by my invention I FI'OVlClG an improvedmeans for taking care 0 the exhaust steam conduits 6 and such otherconduits as it may be desirable to pass through the smoke-box. Iaccomplish this by providing at either side of the smoke-box thevertical tubular members 12 and '13 which connect suitable openings 14near the bottom of the smoke-box with corresponding openings 15 in thetop 3. The members 12 and 13 are permanently secured to the walls of thesmoke-box sheet around the openings therein, preferably by welding, sothat an air-tight joint is secured between these members and the wallsof the smoke-box.

It' will be apparent from an inspection of Fig. 2 that the members 12and 13 form not only passages suitable for the reception of piping, butalso form vertical stifi'em'ng members which aid materially indistributing the weight of the heater more uniformly over the smoke-boxwalls.

The members 12 and 13 may be of any desired cross-sectional form, but Iprefer to form such members either of circular or elliptical tubing, thesectional form employed depending upon the number and size of the ipeswhich are to be run through them. or illustrative urposes I have shownin Figs. 2 and 3' t e member 12 of nearly circular form and have shownas located therein only a single exhaust steam pipe 6, while the member13 is more decided- 1y elli tical in form in order to accommodate not 0y an exhaust pipe 6 but the condensate return p1pe7.

the condensate there- I Obviously, the number or character of i thepipes located in the tubular members 12 and 13 are immaterial to thepresent invention, and it will also be readily apparent that thesmoke-box need not necessarily be provided with a flat top sheet such asI have shown, but may he in the form of a full cylinder with the members12 and 13 attached to the smoke-box walls in the same manner at boththeir upper and lower ends.

Man changes and modifications in the form ilustrated will suggestthemselves to those skilled in the art, but all such changes andmodifications as may fall within the scope of the appended claims are tobe understood as within the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a locomotive, a sheet forming a smoke box wall and having a pairof openings therein, one of said openings being in the lower portion ofsaid sheet and the other of said openings being in the upper portion ofsaid sheet, and a tubular member permanently secured to said sheetaround said openings and passing through the smoke-box,

2. In a locomotive, a sheet forming a smoke-box wall and having a pairof upper and lower openings on each side of the smoke-box, and tubularmembers connecting each pair of openings and passing through thesmoke-box a locomotive. a sheet forming a smoke-box Wall and havingapair of vertically aligned up er and lower openings on each side of saismoke-box, and a pair of vertically disposed tubular members passingthrough the smoke-box and connecting each of said pairs of openings,said members forming vertical weight bearing stiit'eners providing openpassages through the smoke box,

4, In a locomotive, a smoke-box torming sheet having an arcuate lowerportion and a plane upper portion, said sheet being provided with anopening in its upper plane portion and a corresponding opening in itslower arcuate portion, and a tubular member connecting said openings.

5. In a locomotive a smoke-box forming sheet having an arcuate lowerportion and a horizontal plane upper portion, said sheet having openingsin its plane portion at each side of the smoke-box and correspondingopenings in the lower arcuate portion, said lower openings beingvertically aligned with said upper openings, and a pair of tubularmembers passing through said smoke-box with each of said membersconnecting one of said upper openings with one of said lower OPGIllIlgS,

WILLIAM L. LENTZ.

